Push button lock for fishing reels

ABSTRACT

A fishing reel in which a thumb actuated lever is operative between line holding and line releasing positions, which incorporates a slidable locking button that yieldably engages the lever to restrain it in line holding position, to prevent accidental movement of the lever into line releasing position, but which button may be displaced in response to manual pressure on the lever in excess of such imposed restraint, to permit full control of the line by the lever.

[ 51 Nov. 21, 1972 United States Patent Menne PUSH BUTTON LOCK FORFISHING REELS [72] lnventor:

2,843,333 7/1958 Jones....................242/84.2A

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Eugene P. Menne, Mankato, Minn.1,297,848 5/1962 France..................242/84.2 A [73] Assignee:Johnson Diversified, lnc., Mankato, I

' Minn.

, Primary Examiner-Billy S. Taylor July 16, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 55,452

Attorney-Carlsen, Carlsen & Sturm [22] Filed:

ABSTRACT A fishing reel in which a thumb actuated lever is perativebetween line holding and line releasing positions, which incorporates aslidable locking button that yieldably engages the lever to restrain itin line holding position, to prevent accidental movement of the leverinto line releasing position, but which button may be displaced inresponse to manual pressure on the lever in excess of such imposedrestraint, to permit full control of the line by the lever.

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PATENTED NOV 2 1 I912 SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTOR.

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PATENTEDHUVZI I912 3.703.282 SHEET 2 OF 2 fl/MIVE Pi MEIVA/E Arron/Er:

PUSI-I BUTTON LOCK FOR FISHING REELS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION off, asin the casting action, and in which the axial position of the windingdrum is controlled by an exposed thumb lever customarily projecting fromthe rear part of the reel housing.

Reels of this type have become very popular and are well known in theart as evidenced by recent L. E. Johnson U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,498,562 and3,487,658, as well as by earlier Denison and Johnson patents such asU.S. Pat. Nos. 3,026,058, 3,023,978, 2,959,370 and 2,862,679. In all ofthese instances, as well as in numerous spin casting reels currently onthe market and in widespread use, the exposed thumb lever is pivotallymounted in the casing so as to act against the rear end of a slidabledrive shaft which carries and rotates the winding drum, so that when theoperator depresses the thumb lever he frees the line so that it canescape. To retrieve the line he then only has to turn a hand crank whichis connected to said drive shaft in such a manner that it restores thedrum to its line winding position.

Meritorious as this general type of line control mechanism is it haspresented one functional problem, for which a practical or suitablesolution has not heretofore been found, and that is that when thefisherman desires to troll, or merely move his boat to another fishingarea, he instinctively or of necessity lays his rod down in the boat,with the reel adjacent to the seat on which he is sitting, and, sincethe weight of the reel gravitates it to an underslung position, it isfound that the aforesaid thumb lever frequently contacts the seat,tackle box, bait container, or other object, to accidentally orinadvertently trigger the winding drum into line disengaging position.This in turn allows the lure to drop into the water, thus stripping outthe line, without the operator noticing it, and sometimes resulting inlosing the entire rod and reel over the side of the boat.

This objection appears to have been first recognized by the aforesaidDenison and Johnson, patentees, in connection with an earlier design ofspinning reel, as shown in their U.S. Pat. No. 2,828,088 in which theaxial position of the winding member 33 is controlled by an exposedcontrol button 44, and to prevent the accidental displacement of thisbutton 44 it may be locked against inward movement by manuallydepressing a knob 75 which moves the extension 77 of a shoe 73 intostopping engagement with the button 44.

As a solution to the objection as it was found to exist in the aforesaidmore recent types of spinning reels, wherein the position of the windingmember was controlled by a rearwardly exposed thumb lever, the originalassignee of the Denison and Johnson patents incorporated, in one of itsmodels known as the GULL, an arcuate button lock element that waspivoted to the reel case under the thumb lever and could be swung intoor out of engagement with the lever.

Both of the aforesaid locking devices were incorporated in reel modelssold commercially by the predecessor assignee of the above enumeratedpatents, but the manufacture and sales of such models have long sincebeen discontinued as being impractical or unsatisfactory for variousreasons, including cost and slowness of the inherent or required dualoperating action.

To overcome this problem as it is found in more modern reels I havedeveloped and perfected the present invention by designing andincorporating a device that will not only lock the thumb lever againstaccidental line releasing action, but which is so constructed that theoperator may, in an emergency, such as when booking a fish whiletrolling, immediately retain control of the line by exerting pressure onthe thumb lever in excess of that required by accidental release of thewinding drum. In short, he can, by such additional pressure, cause thelocking element to disen-v gage itself from the lever without separatelydoing so and without breakage of parts. Additionally the locking deviceis unitary in construction, and can be embodied with simplemanufacturing procedures and at low cost, all important factors in thesuccessful commercial production of reels.

DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTION In the accompanying drawings, which illustratea preferred embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a spin casting reelembodying my improved push button lock, with the locking element in itsinactive position, but also showing it, by dotted lines, in itsreleasably locked position with respect to the thumb lever.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional elevation on the line 2-2 in FIG. 1, but ona slightly reduced scale.

FIG. 3 is a detailed sectional elevation corresponding to a portion ofFIG. 1, but also on a reduced scale, and with the lock button or memberin its raised position to fully engage and secure the thumb leveragainst accidental displacement.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail section on the line 4--4 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional elevation corresponding to FIG.3, but more clearly illustrating certain relative shapes and angles ofcontact that are of importance in the operation of the locking device.

FIG. 6 is a detail elevation similar to a portion of FIG. 5, but withthe thumb lever and locking piece in a partially adjusted position.

Referring to the drawings more particularly and by reference characters,10 designates the main frame of a spin casting reel having a tang 11 bywhich it is attached to the casting rod in any well known manner. Theframe 10 cooperates with rear cover 12 and front cover 13 to form ahollow body containing the reel mechanism. Such mechanism essentiallyincludes a bearing 14 integral with frame 10 in which is slidably androtatably mounted a shaft 15 that is yieldingly held in a rearwardposition by a spring 16 but may be moved forwardly by a thumb lever 17that is generally T- shaped in cross section, as shown in FIG. 2, toincorporate a vertical plate portion 18 and a curved top portion 19 thatis exposed for convenient engagement by the thumb of the operator. Thelever 17 is pivotally secured by a pin 20, carried by the rear cover 12,for oscillation with its plate part 18 guided in an elongated slot 21,in the cover, and the forward edge of the plate 18 has a generallyvertical edge surface 22 engageable with the rear end of shaft to pressit forwardly against the tension of spring 16.

The fish line 23 is wound on a spool 24 mounted on the bearing 14 withinthe front cover 13 and is normally non-rotatable so that the line may bestripped or peeled from it during the casting operation, the linepassing over the rim 25 of a pick-up rotor 26 that is secured to thefront end of shaft 15 by a nut 27, and then passes radially inwardly andforwardly to the guide opening 28 from which it passes outward inresponse to the pull of the lure. To snub the line, to control theforward flight of the lure, the rotor 26 is moved to its extreme forwardposition so as to clamp the line between the rotor and a part of thefront cover 13 in a well known manner. This extreme forward position ofthe rotor is also given it when the cast is to be made so as to hold theline firmly and prevent its escape until the rod has been swung orprojected to its desired forward position. When the thumb piece 17 isthen released the rotor 26 is moved rearwardly until a small lever 29 onthe rotor contacts the end surface of the bearing 14 but before therotor reaches its initial rearward position, thus holding the rotor inan intermediate position in which the line may freely be stripped off.

When the line is to be retrieved the operator merely turns a crank 30which operates through suitable gearing to turn the shaft 15 until thelever 29 can drop into a cam recess 31 in bearing 14, so that the rotormay resume its most rearward position at which time notches 32 in therear of rim will project back sufficiently to engage the line passingover the rim and thus provide the winding operation. Instead of havingline engaging notches the rotor may have extensible pickup pins for thatpurpose, as shown for instance in the Denison and Johnson US. Pat. Nos.2,828,088, 2,862,679 or 2,959,370. I

The reel structure and mechanism as thus far described is allsubstantially old in the art, as indicated by the patents that have beenidentified, and numerous others, but an understanding of which isessential to an appreciation of the present invention. Thus, it will beseen that when the lure has been partially or wholly retrieved, thewinding rotor is in its rearmost position and the line is prevented fromescaping. Should the operator, however, lay the rod down with the reelin an underslung position so that the thumb lever 17 is accidentallytouched, to thereby trigger the winding rotor 26 to its intermediateposition, the line will be released and if the lure is hanging in thewater the entire outfit may easily be lost.

To guard against this contingency I have extended the slot 21 in therear cover downwardly in a relatively narrow extension 33, and haveinserted therein a lock button or member A which is generally H-shapedin cross section as shown in FIG. 4. The member A is provided with apair of lateral grooves 34-35 which are curved to conform with thecurvature of the rear cover, and slidably engage the opposed cover edgesforming the slot extension 33.

The exposed or outer lug portion 36 of the member A is substantiallywider than the slot extension, and is preferably knurled to facilitateits vertical movement by the operator. The inner lug portion 37 of thelug is also wider than the slot extension 37 but is sufficiently narrowso that it can pass inwardly through the slot 21 proper when the lever17 has not been secured by the pivot pin 20. In this manner the memberis permanently secured in its operative position by the thumb lever,while still being free to function, will not require any separate rivetsor fastening device, and can easily be replaced, if necessary, merely bytemporarily removing the pin 20 and thumb lever 19.

By particular reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 it will be seen that the lugpart 37 of member A has an upper extension 38 that is rounded to extendinto a recess 39 in plate 18, while the inner face of the member A isgenerally curved to conform with the curvature of the rear edge of thelower part of the member. Also that the recess 39 is defined in part bya downwardly projecting heel element 40 which is so arranged that it hasno influence on the member A when the latter is in its uppermostposition, as in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5.

The lock button A is preferably made of plastic or other slightlyresilient material and is formed to fit in the slot extension 33 quitesnugly so that it will frictionally yet yieldingly retain the positionto which it is adjusted by the operator who can move it up or downmerely by engaging its outer knurled surface. The frictional resistanceto its movement is generally sufficient to prevent the accidentaltripping of the lever, but even if not entirely sufficient suchresistance is almost immediately increased by a slight lowering of thebutton from its uppermost position.

This will be evidenced by a consideration of FIGS. 5 and 6 in which itwill be seen that when the button A is in its uppermost position (FIG.5) the heel 40 is out of contact with the button and initial pressure onthe thumb lever 17 will contact the lug extension 38 in such a mannerthat the pressure from lever 17 will be in virtual alignment (see arrow41) with the contacting surfaces between the button channels 34-35 andthe cover 12, when the least amount of frictional resistance isproduced. Should such initial movement be exceeded then, by virtue ofthe arcuate movement of the plate 18 around pivot pin 20, the heel 40will move inwardly against the extension 38 to create a lateralpressure, as indicated by arrow 42, to thereby increase the frictionalresistance to downward movement of the button in its slot extension 33.This resistance is not, however, of such degree as to cause breakage ofparts or to interfere with the continued action of the lever in movingthe button to its lowermost position, as in FIG. 1, until it is to beused again.

As a matter of fact when the button A reaches a point slightly below theposition shown in FIG. 6, the arcuate movement of the lever 17 willswing the heel 40 forwardly until it has direct end contact with lug 38,thus losing the aforesaid lateral pressure (arrow 42) and restoringaction of the lever against the button with a snap action and in adirection aligned with the arcuate movement of the button.

ton by reverse action on it. But if a fish has struck or I fast actionis otherwise necessary, he merely grasps the rod and by thumb action onthe lever 17 he can quickly disengage the lock and immediately retainfull control of the line.

Having now therefore fully illustrated and described by invention, whatI claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a fishing reel having a line spool; a shaft mounted for axial androtatable movement with respect to and adjacent said spool; a linewinding member mounted on the end of said shaft adjacent said spool,said member being operable to engage and wind a line onto said spool andto disengage said line and allow free withdrawal of line from saidspool; manually operable shaft positioning means moveably mounted onsaid reel, said shaft positioning means including a portion operable toengage the other end of said shaft to axially position said shaft andsaid winding member with respect to said line spool; a locking member;means moveably mounting said locking member on said reel; and means onsaid shaft positioning means and said locking member for yieldablysecuring said shaft positioning means in a first locked line engagingposition and to move said locking member to a position to release saidshaft positioning means when a predetermined manual force is applied tosaid last named means through movement of said shaft positioning means,whereby said shaft positioning means may be operable to axially positionsaid shaft and said line winding member.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the means on the shaft positioningmeans and the locking member includes cooperable surface means forinitially yielding to a substantial force and thereafter yielding to alower force to release the shaft positioning means from the lockingmember.

3. In a fishing reel having a line spool, a shaft mounted for axial androtatable movement with respect to the spool, a winding member carriedby the shaft for movement therewith and selectively held in line windingposition with respect to the spool, a manually operative lever pivotallycarried by the reel for arcuate movement in a plane coincident with theaxis of the shaft and for endwise engagement with the shaft to axiallyadjust the latter and thereby move the winding member to a positionwhere it will effectively free itself from line winding engagement, saidlever having a recess for receiving one end of a locking button, saidrecess including an abutment operative to regularly contact a lockingbutton and move it into inactive position, and a locking button slidablymounted in the reel for movement in the aforesaid plane to yieldablyengage said lever and thereby releasably secure the winding member inits line winding position.

4. In a fishing reel, a hollow body member containing line reelingmechanism and formed in part by a front cover through which the linepasses from the reeling mechanism, said reeling mechanism including anaxially adjustable line control shaft extending coaxially and rearwardlywith respect to said front cover, said body member also being formed inpart by a rear cover enclosing the rear-end of said shaft and having anelongated slot aligned rearwardly behind the shaft, a manually operativeline control lever pivotally mounted in said slot for arcuate movementin a plane coincident with the axis of the shaft and for endwise contacttherewith to move it axially, and a locking button, having side channelsadapted to receive and frictionally engage cover parts forming the slot,slidably secured in the slot for selective engagement with the lever toreleasably secure the latter in an inactive position.

5. In a fishing reel, a hollow body member containing line reelingmechanism and formed in part by a front cover through which the linepasses from the reeling mechanism, said reeling mechanism including anaxially adjustable line control shaft extending coaxially and rearwardlywith respect to said front cover, said body member also being formed inpart by a rear cover enclosing the rear-end of said shaft and having anelongated slot aligned rearwardly behind the shaft, a manually operativeline control lever, having a recess adapted to receive one end of alocking button, pivotally mounted in said slot for arcuate movement in aplane coincident with the axis of the shaft and for endwise contacttherewith to move it axially, and a locking button slidably secured inthe slot for selective engagement with the lever to releasably securethe latter in an inactive position.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 in which means moveably mounting the lockingmember is a slot in the fishing reel and the shaft positioning means aremoveably disposed in said slot and said locking member includes meansfor frictionally engaging the sides of said slot.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the means on the shaft positioningmeans and the locking member includes cooperable surfaces operable inresponse to a predetermined degree of manual pressure to release theshaft position means.

1. In a fishing reel having a line spool; a shaft mounted for axial androtatable movement with respect to and adjacent said spool; a linewinding member mounted on the end of said shaft adjacent said spool,said member being operable to engage and wind a line onto said spool andto disengage said line and allow free withdrawal of line from saidspool; manually operable shaft positioning means moveably mounted onsaid reel, said shaft positioning means including a portion operable toengage the other end of said shaft to axially position said shaft andsaid winding member with respect to said line spool; a locking member;means moveably mounting said locking member on said reel; and means onsaid shaft positioning means and said locking member for yieldablysecuring said shaft positioning means in a first locked line engagingposition and to move said locking member to a position to release saidshaft positioning means when a predetermined manual force is applied tosaid last named means through movement of said shaft positioning means,whereby said shaft positioning means may be opErable to axially positionsaid shaft and said line winding member.
 1. In a fishing reel having aline spool; a shaft mounted for axial and rotatable movement withrespect to and adjacent said spool; a line winding member mounted on theend of said shaft adjacent said spool, said member being operable toengage and wind a line onto said spool and to disengage said line andallow free withdrawal of line from said spool; manually operable shaftpositioning means moveably mounted on said reel, said shaft positioningmeans including a portion operable to engage the other end of said shaftto axially position said shaft and said winding member with respect tosaid line spool; a locking member; means moveably mounting said lockingmember on said reel; and means on said shaft positioning means and saidlocking member for yieldably securing said shaft positioning means in afirst locked line engaging position and to move said locking member to aposition to release said shaft positioning means when a predeterminedmanual force is applied to said last named means through movement ofsaid shaft positioning means, whereby said shaft positioning means maybe opErable to axially position said shaft and said line winding member.2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the means on the shaft positioningmeans and the locking member includes cooperable surface means forinitially yielding to a substantial force and thereafter yielding to alower force to release the shaft positioning means from the lockingmember.
 3. In a fishing reel having a line spool, a shaft mounted foraxial and rotatable movement with respect to the spool, a winding membercarried by the shaft for movement therewith and selectively held in linewinding position with respect to the spool, a manually operative leverpivotally carried by the reel for arcuate movement in a plane coincidentwith the axis of the shaft and for endwise engagement with the shaft toaxially adjust the latter and thereby move the winding member to aposition where it will effectively free itself from line windingengagement, said lever having a recess for receiving one end of alocking button, said recess including an abutment operative to regularlycontact a locking button and move it into inactive position, and alocking button slidably mounted in the reel for movement in theaforesaid plane to yieldably engage said lever and thereby releasablysecure the winding member in its line winding position.
 4. In a fishingreel, a hollow body member containing line reeling mechanism and formedin part by a front cover through which the line passes from the reelingmechanism, said reeling mechanism including an axially adjustable linecontrol shaft extending coaxially and rearwardly with respect to saidfront cover, said body member also being formed in part by a rear coverenclosing the rear-end of said shaft and having an elongated slotaligned rearwardly behind the shaft, a manually operative line controllever pivotally mounted in said slot for arcuate movement in a planecoincident with the axis of the shaft and for endwise contact therewithto move it axially, and a locking button, having side channels adaptedto receive and frictionally engage cover parts forming the slot,slidably secured in the slot for selective engagement with the lever toreleasably secure the latter in an inactive position.
 5. In a fishingreel, a hollow body member containing line reeling mechanism and formedin part by a front cover through which the line passes from the reelingmechanism, said reeling mechanism including an axially adjustable linecontrol shaft extending coaxially and rearwardly with respect to saidfront cover, said body member also being formed in part by a rear coverenclosing the rear-end of said shaft and having an elongated slotaligned rearwardly behind the shaft, a manually operative line controllever, having a recess adapted to receive one end of a locking button,pivotally mounted in said slot for arcuate movement in a planecoincident with the axis of the shaft and for endwise contact therewithto move it axially, and a locking button slidably secured in the slotfor selective engagement with the lever to releasably secure the latterin an inactive position.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 in which meansmoveably mounting the locking member is a slot in the fishing reel andthe shaft positioning means are moveably disposed in said slot and saidlocking member includes means for frictionally engaging the sides ofsaid slot.